Rinehart also warns of the dangers of excessive household and government debt.

Her plea to earn before spending came as the Ten Network, where she's a director and major shareholder, went to the market to ask its long-suffering shareholders for an extra $230 million, much of which will be used to pay off a $210 million debt that falls due in March.

Rinehart is concerned that advertising is down, "and professional jobs are being terminated Australia-wide".

Perhaps a reference to the 100-odd jobs, including those of newsreader Helen Kapalos, lost from Ten?

According to the nation's richest person, back in the day almost every Australian home "understood that you had to earn revenue before you could spend it".

"Then you had to make choices: it might be nice to have overseas holidays, but maybe we should renovate the bathroom and/or kitchen, save for a granny flat, et cetera," Rinehart said in her regular column, published today.

"Proper planning and allocation within the budget constraints had to occur. This may not be popular, but we need to get back to these basic understandings, and, very importantly for Australia, so do our overspending governments."

Video: Gina Rinehart wards off media at Ten AGM in Sydney

Australia's central government debt as a percentage of gross domestic product is the third lowest of the developed economies, according to 2010 OECD data.

Ten shareholders are meeting this morning, with strong protest votes against the remuneration report and the election of board-nominated directors expected.

Rinehart attended just eight of the 14 board meetings held in the 2012 financial year.

191 comments

Put a sock in it Gina.

Why does the press keep reporting the self-righteous garbage she dishes out. She is the least qualified person in Australia to give any such advice. She was handed a fortune on a platter and has never had to strive hard for anything.

Give us some pearls of wisdom from people who started with little and made a success of themselves.

Commenter

bitboy

Location

Port Melbourne

Date and time

December 06, 2012, 1:19PM

Don't annoy the funding body. You know that.

Commenter

Mazz

Date and time

December 06, 2012, 3:23PM

Now that Gina is a major shareholder in Fairfax.......owner of this website, We can expect more pearls of wisdom from her.....

Now that she's part of the "rest of the economy" as opposed to the "dig it and flog it" economy she can see that the high Australian dollar caused by her mining boom is stuffing up the rest of the economy.

THATS WHY WE NEED A PROPER MINING TAX GINA!!!!!

To bring the money from the Pilbara to Suburbia!

Commenter

vote with $$$ in the new democracy

Date and time

December 06, 2012, 3:50PM

Does that mean she 'will live within her means' and NOT borrow funds. She did say that excessive debt is bad for you (Hang on, only households and Governments must not take on debt....business can take on debt to their hearts content, because they're clever and would never use debt rashly. Except maybe when they helped create the GFC....Whoops, don't mention the war..........Sorry I missed the subtext...."do as I say not as I do"....Got it.

Commenter

JIM

Location

Bayside

Date and time

December 06, 2012, 4:20PM

Thanks Gina . Whatever would we do without your advice.

Commenter

Seriously

Date and time

December 06, 2012, 4:23PM

Yes let's see? she and her companies don't pay tax that goes back to surburbia via state and federal fees/royalties/personal tax/company tax/etc etc? your kidding aren't you? and she is what on the scale of mining investment in Australia/World? why not attack anyone with super invested in mining company shares - should those people have the carpet ripped from under them because they are 'digging up the country' - what after they paid for mining tenanents? after they invested in billions of infrastructure? employ thousands of Australians? shame on you super funds and federal govt (didn't Labor bring in compulsory super? were they supporting Hancok and her father?).Now let's see you inner city labor/greens luvvies - when you say 'Gina stop digging up your country' - which Aboriginal tribe are you representing? and don't you want financial/social/educational/heath security in your communitiy near the mines?

Commenter

enough is enough

Location

Lefty socialist crumbling La La Land

Date and time

December 06, 2012, 4:32PM

While no fan of Gina Rinehart there seems to be this perpetual myth that she was handed a fortune. She was not. She was handed leases and other titles and worked her butt off to get them up and running, so that now, yes, she does indeed have a fortune.

That aside, she is so far removed from mainstream Australia as far as monetary concerns go, she needs to stop flapping her gums and stick to what she knows best. And that isn't advising the rest of us how to live.

Commenter

Knowyourfacts

Date and time

December 06, 2012, 4:32PM

Gee I'm glad I read this sagely advice. The scales have fallen from mine eyes and my life is changed forever.

I think you might are being a little hard on the woman bitboy. You probably can't imagine how difficult it must be to have all that money and the only people who take notice of the fruits of your giant intellect are the people you can sack. A bit of empathy for this rock of Australian society please.

Commenter

doh

Date and time

December 06, 2012, 4:53PM

Knowyourfacts unfortunately yours are wrong, or at the very least, horribly twisted. You CAN'T just look at the fortune she inherited and the fortune it is today and conclude that she was the main driver of the dollar figure increase which is the mistake most of the people who support her make when talking about it. No one argues she's a Paris Hilton trust fund ignoramous. She did do a lot of work, but anyone, and I mean ANYONE would have increased their wealth many times over by simply holding those leases during an iron ore boom. She inherited millions and leases worth billions. All she did is not screw it up. Lang was worth over 200 million in 1990 and had done all the actual work setting up hope downs, finding it, lobbying for ten years to be able to develop it, getting Rio Tinto on board to develop it and was already getting 12.5M/ year from it. Everything was already in place, come the boom and you'd be calling Paris Hilton a genious for not screwing it up. It's a total myth that she took a few mill and a mining lease and turned it into a successful business. People are just surprised she's running the business set up for her well like anyone here could have done with far less grotesquery.

Commenter

andrew

Date and time

December 06, 2012, 4:55PM

@Knowyourfacts "...perpetual myth that she was handed a fortune. She was not." She inherited a $75 million mining empire which landed her straight into the BRW rich list. How is this not being "handed a fortune"?

Getting handed a small fortune and having the luck to be in a position to benefit from a booming Chinese economy at the right time is not due to hard work. It is a huge amount of luck. She could have done nothing since inheriting the mining empire and still be a multi-billionaire.